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Revisiting the Fry’s Past: “The Tower”

Posted on February 23, 2021July 3, 2023 by Michael Molenda

I affectionately call this the “popcorn machine” build. This the largest case I have ever built in. The Quadstellar was quite large, but it had for chambers. This is just one big case.

IMG_3113-2021-02-23-15-42.jpg
I mean, this sucker is HUGE.

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Complete set of parts

  • Themrltake TheTower 900
  • Intel Core i7-7700k
  • Corsair Dominator Platinum RAM 32GB (2×16)
  • Asus ROG Maximus IX Formula Motherboard
  • Samsung 960 EVO M.2 NVMe SSD (x2 in Raid 0)
  • EVGA Geforce GTX 1080Ti (x2 in SLI)
  • Thermaltake ToughPower Grand 1000W PSU
  • Thermaltake Water 3.0 AIO CPU Liquid Cooler

IMG_3115-2021-02-23-15-42.jpg
Parts needed for POST testing…

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Notice the way the second SSD had to be mounted. That is very odd to say the least…. At this point, I have already completed the POSt test and started installing additional peripherals

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OMG, this thing is big. The way it is designed reminds me of a popcorn machine at the movie theater. Probably should be enough room for a few components.

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Getting the motherboard installed…

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Getting closer. Video cards installed along with the radiator… but does it fit?

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The tubes don’t seem to be long enough….

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Nope, they are not long enough. Tried every conceivable mounting spot for the radiator to get the water block to install, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Next up: air cooling. This will work well for the CPU unless the customer was going to do some extreme OC. This air cooler has a push-pull configuration.

IMG_3139-2021-02-23-15-42.jpg
Final product. It is a fantastically large case but for liquid cooling, it might be better to do a custom loop. Maybe the customer found a liquid cooler that has much longer tubes…. This system performs, though.

IMG_3153-2021-02-23-15-42.jpg
Got the RAID-0 working. Not exactly sure why use a 500GB set of drives in RAID-1 over just getting a 1TB drive and no RAID.

I am glad you came along with me for this installment of Revisiting the Fry’s Past.

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